


Love Over Challah

by sebastian2017



Series: Jewish Fics [2]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, David is basically like a tiny wingman and he doesnt even know it, Erik is Crushing Harder than a 12-year Old Girl, Family Dinner, Fluff, Jewish Holidays, Kidfic, M/M, no pain in sight just fluff and cuteness, probably sweet enough to give you diabetes, single father Erik, single father charles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 06:29:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11435094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebastian2017/pseuds/sebastian2017
Summary: As his first Shabbat alone with David approaches, Charles realizes he's overlooked one important detail: he's not actually sure how to have a Shabbat dinner. Thankfully, he meets Edie Lehnsherr, who just so happens to be having dinner with her son and grandchildren that very Friday and would love to have Charles and David over to celebrate the Shabbat with.orCharles and Erik meet while celebrating the Shabbat and bond over mutant activism and their adorable children.





	Love Over Challah

**Author's Note:**

> cw: food (lmk if anyone needs anything else)

 

It’s Tuesday when he and David go to drop Gabrielle off at the airport. Just before leaving, Gabbie had confessed to Charles that she’s a bit worried it’s too soon, but they’ve already been delaying this for a month. The constant work abroad was the reason for Charles and Gabbie’s divorce (on friendly terms, thankfully) and it’s exactly those work reasons that require Gabbie in the Israeli embassy in Paris as soon as possible, to begin her diplomatic work. So no, Charles had reminded her, unfortunately there is no more delaying this. David is a bit weepy the whole car ride long, clinging to his favorite stuffed bear for comfort. When they pull up at the airport drop off zone and get out of the car, David clings to his mother’s leg. 

 

“Do you really have to go, Mommy?” David asks, looking up at her with sad eyes as blue as his father’s. 

 

Gabbie crouches down to hug him properly. “I’m afraid so, baby boy. But we'll call and Skype so much, you won’t even have time to miss me! And you're going to be with Daddy! You’ll be all right, Davey.”

 

“Okay…” David nods and hugs her leg even tighter as they say their goodbyes.

 

Charles stands off to the side a bit, so they have their space. However, when David is calmer and lets go, he steps forward to bid her goodbye as well. They're divorced, but still friends. “Have a safe flight, Gabbie. Send me a message when you've landed, okay? So I know you got there safely.”

 

“I will, Charles. And you call me if either if you needs anything at all!” Gabbie pulls him into a tight hug, which David is quick to join. When she pulls back, she smiles and covers David’s face in kisses. “I'll see you in a few months, okay?”

 

David nods and they say one final round of goodbyes before Gabbie really does need to go. Charles loads David back into the car and straps him in, and just like that, they're driving back home. The first few minutes, David is entirely silent and has a deathly tight grip on his bear. Charles never pries in his family’s mind, but David is practically radiating his sadness. Charles can’t help feeling emotions that are so strong, and the effect is doubled because David’s telepathy, still in its very early stages when it picks up nothing more than feelings and purposely projected thoughts, is still unhinged enough that the boy has a habit of projecting. Usually, Charles would turn this into a teaching moment, but today, David deserves to get away with a little more than usual.

 

“We’ll be okay, buddy,” Charles promises, looking back at him through the rearview mirror. “You’ll see, this won’t be so bad. I know Mommy being gone is a big thing, but the world isn't turning upside down. Most things are going to stay just the same.”

 

“You promise, Daddy?”

 

“Cross my heart, Davey.”

  
  


\-----

 

The rest of Tuesday had gone well, with minimal tears and plenty of cuddling. Wednesday went by peacefully as well. David had a Skype session with his mother over breakfast, then gone off to preschool with no fuss. Charles too, had gotten through his day at the university with relatively little problems. His students actually participate, he finishes grading exams from a month earlier, and no one even asks for extensions on their latest paper. Their first day without Gabbie near goes surprisingly well. It’s Thursday that Charles realizes his first fatal error. 

 

He wakes up in the morning and his first thought is, ‘ _ Oh, tomorrow’s Friday. David will be excited to gorge himself on challah.’  _ His second thought is, ‘ _ Shit. I don’t know how to make challah.’  _ Then it doesn’t get better from there, because his third is, ‘ _ Well, fuck, I don’t know anything of running through a Shabbat dinner, do I?’  _ And the answer is that no, he really doesn’t. He’s been present practically every Friday since David was born, but never as a particularly active participant. He’d been there more like… back up. Help set the table, fetch the matches, stop David from drinking his grape juice too soon, clean up after, that sort of thing. Naturally, it had been Gabbie in charge. But Gabbie’s on the other side of the Atlantic ocean right now, entirely unable to help. 

 

Charles’ first plan is that he can just… not do it for tomorrow night, then spend every minute of the next week in some hardcore research so he’s ready for next Friday. But he discards that idea almost as quickly as he comes up with it. No, this has been tradition in David’s life all his life. How would it come off to a five year old if in the first few days after his mother leaves, a previously reliable Friday night tradition is ignored? Charles is no child psychologist, but he’s pretty sure that would warrant a great deal of trust issues and a slew of therapy later on. So no, that won’t work. 

 

He considers calling Gabbie as well and begging her to walk her through it, but… she’d asked him countless times if he was sure they were ready for her to leave and just as many times he’d assured her they were fine. It wasn’t Gabbie’s fault that Charles had completely blanked on asking for…. He doesn’t know, perhaps a handly little pamphlet on ‘Jewish Life 101’. One would think having had a Jewish wife for six years and raising a Jewish son for five of those years would have been preparation enough, but no. Charles is a genius, but works best with textbooks and research papers in front of him. So the last thing he wants to do is call his ex-wife to admit defeat just two days after her departure, especially after he’d been so annoying in his insistence that he’d be perfectly fine. No. He needs another plan. 

 

Charles is distracted all through breakfast. He just keeps trying to think of backup plans. It seems he’s being a bit obvious with his worry, at least in the eyes of a telepathic preschooler. David frowns at him between spoonfuls of his cereal. 

 

“Daddy, you’re thinking really hard about something, but I can’t tell what it is,” he says, staring straight at him as though that might help him figure it out. “Is it something bad?” 

 

Charles feels awful for worrying him and he swoops down to kiss his forehead. “Oh, Davey, it’s nothing for you to worry about. It’s an adult problem, but Daddy’s going to handle it today.” 

 

“Oh. Okay.” David nods and accepts that as an answer in a heartbeat. He’d always been an easy child. For that, Charles is thankful. 

 

By the time Charles is dropping David off at school, he has at least a little bit of a plan. Though he doesn’t often accompany them on their visits, Charles does know the synagogue Gabbie and David attend. So once David is in his classroom, he sends out an email to his students that the day’s classes are cancelled and drives in the direction of the synagogue. Surely, if he goes in and explains his situation to one of the community outreach members, they’ll know someone who’ll be willing to take them in for the evening. If there’s one thing Charles will never lose, it’s his faith in communities offering helping hands to one another. 

 

Between the morning traffic and Charles getting lost on his way there, it’s just before mid-morning when Charles is pulling up at the building. He’s only been here a few times so the sheer size of the place still intimidates him a bit, but this is for David. What wouldn’t he do for David? Surely this is nothing compared to the things he’d do for his son. However, the intimidation must be plain as day on his face, because he doesn’t make it very far inside the building before someone stops him. It’s an older, kind looking woman, who’s been stapling papers to an information board near the entrance. When Charles walks in, she stops and turns to look at him. At the surface of her mind, Charles can hear her thinking about how curious it is that she’s never seen him before, but that doesn’t stop her from stepping towards him with a welcoming smile. 

 

“Good morning, sweetie. Is there someone you’re looking for? I’m Edie. I’m only a volunteer here, but maybe there’s something I can help you with?” she asks, setting the papers and stapler down on the floor so she can reach forward to shake Charles’ hand. 

 

Charles, friendly as ever, is grinning brightly as he shakes her hand. “Oh, hello! I’m Charles Xavier, pleased to meet you. I’m not quite sure who I’m looking forward to be entirely honest. I’m rather hoping I’ll find some kind soul willing to host my son and I for dinner tomorrow.” 

 

“Are you and your son new? Because I can find you a Shabbat dinner to attend  _ and  _ do you one better by signing you up for the new member events. You’ll meet plenty of people that way,” Edie offers. She even reaches for one of the papers on the information board, which list the upcoming events for new members. 

 

“That’s a very kind offer, Edie, but I don’t quite fall in the new member category. My son is Jewish; I’m not. His mother was usually in charge of Shabbat dinners, but she’s just left for Paris and I’m afraid I’m bloody hopeless at the whole process, from cooking to Hebrew,” Charles explains. “But I don’t want the little lad to miss out because of me. Which is why I was rather hoping to find someone to share the evening with tomorrow.” 

 

“That’s very sweet!” Edie exclaims, smiling. Charles can feel that she’s genuinely finding him adorable right about now. “How old is your son?”

 

“Five years old. He’s the light of my life!” Charles says. He grins from ear to ear and lights up as he always does while speaking of David. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and very proudly shows Edie the photo of David he has set as his lockscreen. 

 

“He’s cute! Well, Charles, it just so happens that my son is coming over with his three children to celebrate the Shabbat with my husband and I. You’re more than welcome to join us!” she offers. 

 

“Really?” Charles grins. See? His faith for the community never fails!

 

“Of course! Give me your number and I'll send you my address and what time you should arrive,” she says, passing Charles her cellphone.

 

“Thank you, Edie! I’m very grateful for this, truly.” As an afterthought, he adds, “My son and I are a mutants. He’s a telepath but he’s still very little and doesn’t have superb controls. He won’t be able to dig through your mind or anything of that nature, but at times, he projects. Will that be okay?” Charles isn’t one of those mutants who assumes the worst in humans, and Edie is a kindly grandmother. Charles trusts kindly grandmothers.

 

Edie’s smile grows even larger. “More than okay! My son and grandchildren are all mutants. You'll get along splendidly! Maybe you've heard of him. Erik Lehnsherr.”

 

“Erik Lehnsherr,” Charles repeats. He stands still for a moment. “Erik Lehnsherr the activist?”

 

“Yes!” Edie is obviously very proud of her son as she says this.

 

Charles laughs. Oh just like him to end up at dinner with an intellectual rival. They've only debated via passive aggressive open letters on their online platforms, but he thinks it still counts. “Yes, Edie. I've most certainly heard of your son.”

  
  


\----

  
  


Somehow, at five in the afternoon the next day, Charles was dressing David to go to dinner at Edie’s house. Edie being Erik Lehnsherr’s mother. Erik Lehnsherr being one of the city’s best known (infamous) mutant rights’ activist. The one who preaches separatism almost as much as Charles argues for integrationism. Charles just had to keep repeating that over and over in his head, because it was so absurd. Just like him to get into a situation like this, wasn’t it? Ah well, Charles is going to be as friendly as ever. Erik can’t be that bad during dinner, can he? They’ll be with his mother and children, Charles is pretty sure that means there’ll be no debate across the dinner table. 

 

He hopes at least. 

 

Currently, his biggest concern is coaxing David into clothes. He just got him out of his bath and now David is happy to race around the apartment in his Iron Man briefs. Currently, he’s jumping on the couch and terrifying Cerebro, their fluffy grey cat. Poor Cerebro often has to deal with David’s over enthusiastic ‘playing’. Charles hurries over and moves the cat out of the way before David can jump on her, but then before he can grab the boy, David has jumped from the couch over to the arm chair. He nearly stumbles and falls on the way, but his telekinesis, which is still in its very early stages - earlier than even David’s telepathy, - is enough to help stabilize him back into an upright position. 

 

“Davey, we need to get dressed now,” Charles insists, going to the chair and managing to grab his boy. “You can’t go to dinner in your underpants!” 

 

“I’m confused, Daddy! Why’re we going out to dinner at all? We only go to other people’s houses for Shabbat when it’s a special holiday. It’s just any other Friday today!” David points out. He’s trapped now, in Daddy’s arms, but he’s still giggling and trying to make another escape. 

 

Charles is definitely not going to let that happen. He picks David up and presses kisses to the unruly blond hair, hoping that’ll calm him slightly. “Well, since it’s our first Shabbat that’s just you and I, I wanted to make it a little more special. To make sure it all goes perfectly. And a nice lady from your and Mommy’s shul invited us to dinner at her home. Her grandchildren will be there as well. You can play with them!” He’s definitely not going to tell David that it’s because Charles is absolutely clueless on how to do this on his own. 

 

“Oh.” Now that he’s taken a moment to actually listen instead of just giggling madly and running around the apartment to terrorize their cat, David thinks that actually sounds pretty cool. “Okay!” 

 

Charles breathes out a sigh of relief as he sets David down on his bed and fetches his clothes. He doesn’t want to send David in overdressed, but he also definitely doesn’t want to let David pick out his clothes for the night. If he did that, it’s very likely David would show up dressed head to toe like one of the Avengers. So they reach a compromise. David will wear his nice jeans with a cute sweater, and in exchange, Charles agrees to let the shirt under his sweater be one with Captain America’s shield on it, instead of one with buttons. Thankfully, that does the trick and even with their little mishap, they get out the door in time. 

 

As they pull up outside Edie’s apartment building, Charles looks back at David in his carseat. “I want you to be on your best behavior, okay? Edie was very kind to invite us, we don’t want her to regret that, right?” 

 

“I know, Daddy! I’ll be perfect,” David promises, starting to tug at the straps holding him in. 

 

Charles turns off the car and goes round to unbuckle him.  David lets himself be picked up without too much fuss. Charles carries him up to the third floor and to Edie’s apartment. He settles David on his hip and then knocks to be let in. He feels a bit bad about showing up empty handed, but Edie had been very adamant about Charles bringing nothing but himself and David. He'd been able to see in her mind how serious she was about that, so he wasn’t going to push his luck and risk offending her. 

 

Edie answered the door after a few moments and grinned from ear to ear when she spotted them. She’s wiping her hands off on her apron, but then she holds the door open for them. “Charles! Come in, come in. And you must be David,” she says, smiling at the boy on his hip. 

 

David nods shyly as Charles carries him in. “Yeah. I’m David. It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for having my Daddy and I over for dinner.” 

 

“So polite! I wish my grandchildren were as well mannered as you, David,” Edie exclaims. 

 

David giggles shyly and hides face against his father’s shoulder. Charles smiles, stroking David’s hair gently. “Thank you, I’ve certainly tried my best with him. Really, though, thank you very much for having us over.” 

 

“Of course, it’s my pleasure. Erik and his children should be here soon. Now, I’m still busy in the kitchen, but my husband Jakob is in the living room. You’re welcome to join him while you wait,” Edie says. She reaches up to pat David’s head gently and then disappears off into the kitchen once more. 

 

Charles ventures further out into the living room, where he spots an older looking man watching the recap of some football game from an armchair. It’s a bit awkward, but Charles has always been a friendly man. “Hello! You must be Jakob. I’m Charles. This is my son, David.” He sets David down on the floor and reaches forward to shake Jakob’s hand. 

 

“The ones Edie invited over? Of course. Take a seat. I hope you like Bayern Munich games,” he says, gesturing to the TV. 

 

Charles goes to sit on the couch. “That’s more than fine by me! David, be nice and say hello.” 

 

But David is distracted by a toy truck he finds knocked over next to the couch. He picks it up and runs back up to his father, holding it up proudly. “Look, Daddy! Look what I found! Can I play with it?” 

 

Before Charles can say that no, it isn’t nice to play with things that aren’t ours, Jakob jumps in. He says, “That must be my grandson’s. Pietro. He’s a messy little thing. You’re welcome to play with any of their toys.” He gets up off his arm chair with a groan and fetches a large bucket from a corner of the room. He brings it over and sets it down in front of David, revealing a multitude of toys inside, from dolls to cars to toy soldiers. 

 

David’s eyes widen as he pulls the bucket closer and pulls out another car, as well as an action figure. “Thank you!” 

 

“Not a problem. How old are you, son?” Jakob asks, smiling as he sits back down. 

 

“Five!” David says, holding up his hand with all the fingers outstretched. He’d just turned five a few weeks earlier, so he’s still very proud of it. 

 

Jakob nods. “Well, that’s perfect. My son’s children are four and seven. You can play together.” 

 

“I’d like that a lot!” David agrees, smiling as he races the cars around the living room coffee table. He looks up at his father occasionally, as if to say ‘look, look how much fun I’m having’. Charles is very glad he happened to walk into the synagogue at the same time Edie was posting papers. 

 

It isn’t very long after Charles sits on the couch that there’s the sound of the door opening once more. A voice announces, “Mama! We’re here.” 

 

“Oh, Erik, good! Your father is in the living room with our guests,” he hears Edie call back to him. 

 

Not even a second later, there’s a little gust of wind in the living room and where there had previously been empty space next to Jakob’s arm chair, there is now a grinning, white haired little boy. “Grandpa! Are you watching the football?” he asks, clambering up onto his lap. 

 

Poor Jakob doesn’t have much of a chance to answer because there’s two more children running into the living room, trying to catch up to their brother. They’re both girls, one seeming to be the same age as Pietro and with a big red bow on her head. The third is the littlest, struggling to keep up with her older siblings. Charles notes that just like her big brother has silver-white hair, this little girl’s hair is the most fantastic shade of green. It’s fascinating, really. He figures these must be Erik Lehnsherr’s children. He knows of their existence from a few of Erik’s comments in his public speeches, but other than that, their father has been successful in keeping them out of the public eye. 

 

Currently, all three are giggling and climbing all over their grandfather. Poor David seems a little overwhelmed by the sudden addition of three young minds in the room. Charles knows from experience that children’s minds are the loudest and most expressive. Even David’s powers, still weak and dull, must be picking up on them. Gently, Charles enters his son’s mind to set some loose shields in place. Not enough to have him feeling completely cut off, but enough to dampen the three eager little children in the room. David’s body loses some of its tension after that, but he still inches closer to his father. 

 

“I am watching the game, yes. And it’s good to see the three of you kiddos,” Jakob says, handing out pats on the back and ruffling all their hairs. He’s clearly the type of grandfather that’s rough around the edges, but caring. Charles finds it endearing to watch, but Jakob doesn’t let them stay outsiders for long. Jakob moves the three of them so they’re standing properly again and gestures to Charles and David. “We have guests today. That’s Charles and Daivd. The boy is just around your age. Don’t be rude. Introduce yourselves.” 

 

And suddenly, Charles and David have a row of children in front of them. The speedy one steps forward first. “Hello, I’m Pietro. I’m the oldest!” he proclaims, grinning cockily. 

 

The girl in the bow scoffs and pushes her brother aside to stand in front of him. “That’s a lie! I’m Wanda and we’re  _ twins _ ,” she says, giving her brother a stern look as if to challenge him into saying otherwise. 

 

The littlest one is content to just hide behind her siblings’ legs and wave shyly. “I’m Lorna,” she says, so quiet they almost miss it. 

 

Charles laughs, a little startled and overwhelmed, but pleased nonetheless. Energetic little kids like this will get along just fine with David. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” he says. He shakes all their hands, all proper like they’re tiny little adults. Of course, they all find this incredibly amusing. 

 

“You’re David?” Pietro asks, looking at David who is still lingering at his father’s side. Charles doesn’t need to have known these children much longer to know that Pietro is clearly the most outgoing of the lot. 

 

David nods, looking up to his father for encouragement and then stepping a little closer to the three. “Uh huh.” 

 

“Cool. Well, come play with us,” he says, grabbing David’s hand and dragging him off to another corner of the living room, where Wanda takes great delight in turning the bucket of toys over and spilling everything. 

 

Charles is just happy to see David getting along well with them. He would have been happy to just sit and watch them play until dinner is ready but Erik Lehnsherr chooses that moment to walk in. Charles has seen him on the television a few times, but even though their lines of work often coincide, they'd never actually met. Of course, it doesn't help that they stand on completely opposite ideologies. Still, Charles is going to be as polite and charming as ever. He stands and goes over to Erik, to shake his hand and introduce himself. 

 

“You must be Edie’s son. Very nice to meet you. I'm Charles Xavier,” he says.

 

Erik looks interested. “The geneticist?”

 

“You've familiar with my work?” Charles sounds surprised.

 

“I am.” Erik nods. “And I’m also familiar with the online responses you've posted to my work. Very articulate, even if I don’t agree. A pleasure to have you over for dinner.”

 

Charles is charmed. Only a few sentences shared and he’s charmed. He'd imagined Erik to be some angry, gruff man in real life, who frowned down upon anyone that didn't agree with him. Yet here he is, being perfectly polite and welcoming, even though Charles is as much a champion for integrationism as Erik is for separatism. Maybe his standards hadn't been set too high, but he's still pleased to find his expectations were untrue. 

 

“Well, thank you. You're excellent with your words as well. A natural born leader,” Charles says, clapping Erik on the shoulder amicably. “I can see how you have such a great following. The way you enrapture a crowd, even I feel like sometimes I’m almost convinced to join you.”

 

Erik repeats, “Almost? And what will it take to convince you, Charles?”

 

“To completely lose my sense of sympathy and faith in people,” he answers, amused. 

 

“Oh, I lost my faith in humanity a long, long time ago.” Erik laughs, shaking his head. “Perhaps if you'll give me a few minutes to present examples, I can bring you over to my side.”

 

Charles stood a little straighter and he’s more than ready to have a bit of a debate here with Erik. But Edie appears from the kitchen and is quick to put a stop to it. “No politics during dinner! The food is ready, come on, go on to the table. Get the kids settled.” 

 

“We’ll have to continue this,” Charles says to Erik.

 

He goes to pick up David and carry him over to the table. He helps him sit and settle, while Erik does the same. Obviously, it takes Erik a good while longer, what with him having three children. Three mischievous children at that. Pietro, who Charles has gathered is a speedster, is darting from corner to corner of the apartment while Erik is ushering his sisters to the table. It’s finally Jakob’s stern voice that convinces him to take his place at the table. Now that they’re all settled, they can finally start the blessings and then dinner. 

 

Charles has seen the whole process before, from his many years with Gabrielle and David. As he usually does, Charles remains more of a respectful observant than an active participant. He closes his eyes when prompted and makes sure David does the same. As well, he drinks from the grape juice (not wine, not with so many kiddos present) when it comes time to that. But he doesn’t participate in any of the prayers. Sometimes it feels a bit awkward, yes, but David is clearly enjoying himself and if his son can find even a scrap of comfort in the routine of doing this every week, he’ll gladly put up with feeling a bit awkward. 

 

Besides, other than the more religious bits at the beginning, the rest of dinner is lovely. Edie is strict about her no politics rule, but regardless, conversation is steady among the adults. Erik and Jakob bond a bit over football while Charles nods dumbly along. Edie demands stories of her grandchildren from Erik, and then immediately after demands stories of David from Charles as if she’s known them all his life. Charles and Jakob chat for a bit about Gabbie’s new job in Paris which leads to Charles recounting a few stories of his visit to Israel when David was three. Erik and Charles even get to talking about things without it delving into politics. Mainly, they both thoroughly enjoy sharing experiences of being fathers to young mutants. 

 

Over the course of dinner, Charles also finds out the Lehnsherr children’s powers because they’re all very open about using them whenever they can. Charles isn’t surprised. Erik does seem like the sort of parent that would encourage that. Wanda has the loveliest magic Charles has ever seen, which glows red whenever she floats plates or more food towards her. Lorna is still so little her powers are barely showing themselves, but every once in a while, she slides a fork to herself from across the table, just because she can. And every time, without fail, she looks to her father for approval, who always grins and applauds her performance lie she’s just moved the sun. David joins in the showing off as best he can, challenging them all to think as hard as they can and then telling them what they’re thinking. It’s all very cute fun among young mutants and Charles is even more glad for the invitation here. It’s good for David to socialize with others and see that his powers aren’t something to be afraid of. 

 

When dinner is over, Edie and Jakob are washing dishes in the kitchen (Charles had offered help and been chased away from the kitchen while Edie yelled about being a good host and no guests working in her house) while Erik and Charles lounge in the living room with a glass of wine. The children are still playing amongst themselves and it’s getting late, but Charles doesn’t have the heart to tell David that it’s almost time to leave his new friends. Besides, he’s enjoying his conversation with Erik and now that Edie is distracted, they’ve delved a bit into their points of view. 

 

“Your arguments are all nice and wonderful, but they’re too optimistic, Charles. Naive even. You place far too much trust in the humans,” Erik insists, shaking his head as he leans back. 

 

Charles scoffs as he has another sip of his wine. “‘The humans’. You act like we’re too completely different things, but we’re not, Erik. Not socially, not biologically, and not even genetically. Not really. We’re humans as well, just with some developments.” 

 

“Not getting into the science of it, that’s still untrue. Not socially?” Erik scoffs. “You’re out of your mind, Charles. The humans don’t see us as one of them and it’s suicide to pretend otherwise.” 

 

Charles could point out that Edie and Jakob are humans and Erik is fine with them. He could point out that if the humans really did all hate them, they outnumber them enough to have gotten rid of them already. He could point out the many children who had one mutant parent and one human and how more and more accepted that’s become. He could point out very many things, but he doesn’t because he looks over and notices David is starting to fall asleep while pushing toy cars around with Erik’s kids. Lorna is already gone, slumped asleep against a wall. Charles stands and goes to pick David up gently from between the twins. 

 

“As much as I would love to continue this with you, Erik, it’s past David’s bedtime and I really should be getting him home,” he says, adjusting David on his hip. 

 

Erik sighs and picks Lorna up. “I’m in the same boat, it seems. Shame. Mama mentioned that you two had arranged for her to invite you over a few more Fridays and teach you how to do it all at home on our own with him?” 

 

“Yes, she is. I’m due to come next Friday as well, actually. Will you be here?” Charles asks. 

 

“I won’t, but… Why don’t you just head to my place instead? I can teach you anything Mama would teach you and we can continue our conversations. Unlike here, my apartment doesn’t have a ‘no politics at dinner’ rule.” In a cocky display of power, Erik makes Charles’ phone levitate out of his pocket and he inputs his phone number into the contacts. “Call me?” 

 

Charles flushes ever so slightly as he takes his phone back and puts it away in his pocket. He nods. “I would like that very much, Erik. Thank you.” 

 

He tries to tell himself that he’s agreeing for David’s sake. And if not David’s sake, he’s agreeing for the intellectually stimulating conversation. Certainly not because Charles has found that when he’s not hosting a protest in Times Square, Erik Lehnsherr is actually a perfectly charming, very handsome single father. It’s certainly not because of that, just like it’s certainly not because Charles had found himself charmed by Erik and his adorable children. That argument is completely destroyed a few months later, when Charles stops having to go to other people’s houses to celebrate Shabbat. It’s not because Charles has managed to figure out how to do it all on his own. Oh no. It’s because there’s no longer any need for him to travel between houses. 

 

He and Erik move in together before even six months in. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you've enjoyed this! I certainly had fun while writing this adorable piece of fluff. If you did enjoy it, please let me know with kudos and a comment! 
> 
> for questions, prompts, or chatting I can be found on tumblr at [sebbym17](http://sebbym17.tumblr.com/)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Love Over Challah [MOODBOARD]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11443287) by [Willow_Angel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willow_Angel/pseuds/Willow_Angel)
  * [Love Over Challah ( The In Betweeen Peaks of the Fab Five Terror Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15103283) by [afrocurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl)




End file.
